


the stars remember

by ashley_in_the_know



Series: ask me what this is (because I don't have an answer) [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M, but neither of them are quite sure what, it's an established something, well sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 10:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15338112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashley_in_the_know/pseuds/ashley_in_the_know
Summary: Vex. Percy. a skyship at night. constellations and the stories behind them.





	the stars remember

He’s not exactly sure what wakes him in the middle of the night. For once there are no nightmares to jolt him from slumber, no inclement weather. The ship isn’t under attack. Percy can’t seem to find a single reason why he’s been pulled so abruptly from what was a rather peaceful sleep.

Except perhaps, he realizes belatedly, that Vex is no longer sleeping beside him.

She’s been doing more of that lately; sharing his bed. It had started as just sex, a way to blow off steam (and maybe not feel so utterly lonely), but it’s grown into something...more. Something frighteningly close to an emotion he hesitates to name. (She hesitates too. That’s why this works.)

Regardless, Percy sleeps better when Vex is curled up next to him. Not that he’ll  _ever_ admit to it. Best case scenario, she’ll tease him mercilessly; adorably smug and irresistibly insufferable. Worst, she’ll get spooked, retreat. Let him down gently, but let him down nonetheless. So, yes, that little tidbit of information is going to stay hidden,  _thank you very much_.

It’s not a difficult thing to find her. There’s only so many places one can go on a skyship, and, for a woman who is constantly surprising him, Vex is astonishingly predictable. She’s perched on the ship’s railing, near the bow, secured with the rope harness that Captain Damon had insisted on. Her hair is loose, a rare sight even for Percy, long tendrils whipping around her face in the wind.

She doesn’t acknowledge his approach, and actually jolts when he wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Gods, Percy,” she breathes. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to her neck.

“As you should be,” she scolds, her voice shifting to the gentle tease he’s so familiar with. “I could have fallen to my death.”

“You know I’d never let you.”

It’s out before he can stop himself, and he can immediately feel the blush heating his cheeks and ears. It’s too much, too soft and genuine, an almost declaration. She half turns to him in astonishment, and could he see better in the starlight, he’d swear she were blushing too.

“I know,” she says, so quiet it’s almost lost in the wind, turning her face back to the stars.

They’re silent for a long while, bordering on too long, when she asks, “Do you know any of these constellations?”

Percy nods. “A fair few,” he says. “I spent one summer of my youth quite obsessed with astronomy. I tried to teach my younger siblings, but they didn’t care about the stars; only the stories that went along with them.”

“Vax and I never learned the proper constellations,” she says, “but we’d sneak onto the roof some nights and make up our own. I would find shapes in the stars and he would make up stories for them.”

He follows her gaze up, his quick eyes scanning the heavens for...ah! Perfect. “I can see one right now that you’d find particularly fascinating.”

“Show me?”

He takes her hand, guides it through the pattern, and she gasps with delight when she finally sees it. “Is that really...”

“The Huntress,” he finishes. “Known as Pelor’s Mistress in some academic circles, but The Huntress is her more widely accepted name.”

Vex turns to face him, glaring suspiciously. “You’re bullshitting me.”

He just smirks. “Do you want to hear the story?”

“Duh.”

He steals a kiss, then launches in. “There’s a well kept legend about a town in the far Northern reaches of Tal’Dorei that was blessed by Pelor himself. He made crops grow in otherwise arid land, and he grew a great forest around the city; rich with lumber and game and protection from the harshest elements. And every so often, the city would assign someone as protector over this forest.

“Pelor’s favorite of these protectors was a young woman, as wild and dangerous and beautiful as the forest itself. She was a skilled tracker, an expert marksman, but most of all, she was a compassionate soul. She treated the forest not just as a place to be protected, but as the living creature it was.

“She was granted a life far longer than any protector that came before or after. And it’s said that Pelor cherished her so much, that, when she died, he rearranged the stars so that she would never be forgotten.”

Vex is quiet for a long moment after he’s finished, then she turns back to him, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “That’s beautiful, Percy.”

He shrugs, suddenly self-conscious. “It’s just a story.”

“Do you know any more?” she asks hopefully.

He makes an affirmative noise. “Like I said, a fair few,” he says. “Would you like to hear them?”

She nods. “Please?”

He doesn’t quite know how long they stay like that; her back pressed to his chest, his voice in her ear, the long strands of her hair occasionally tickling his skin. He shows her all of the constellations he can find, and she shows him a few of the ones that she and Vax invented.

Percy’s part of the way through his explanation of the Sphinx’s Eye when he realizes she’s falling asleep against him. He nudges her gently, starts helping her out of the harness.

“Come back to bed with me?”

Vex nods sleepily, lets him lead her back to his bunk. She’s asleep again within moments, and he follows not long after.

He dreams of Whitestone, of his younger siblings hanging on his every word as he tells them the stories written in the stars. But then another voice is taking over, and Vex’ahlia is there, telling her own stories, making Cassandra and Whitney giggle. He’s laughing too when she turns and catches his eye.

It feels right.

He wakes from the dream somewhat sad, a little confused, and absolutely scared shitless of the nameless emotion that now definitely has a name.


End file.
